Team story
Origins
Wayne Ewing worked on American racing car construction and collaborated with A.J. Watson, building his own chassis alongside that work. In the first World Championship his name appears on Jimmy Davies's car at Indianapolis.
The 1950 Indianapolis 500 was therefore his statistical point of entry, without Ewing embarking on a European Grand Prix programme.
The Formula 1 journey
Davies is listed seventeenth in 1950 in the Pat Clancy. Ten years later Eddie Sachs took pole in Dean Van Lines' Ewing-Offenhauser and led for 21 laps. The magneto stopped him after 132 laps: twenty-first in the classification was not a finish.
Another Ewing, driven by Al Herman, retired with clutch trouble.
Historical timeline
Three chapters in the story of Ewing
Three episodes to revisit the people, cars and races that shaped this journey.
First appearance · Indianapolis 500
Jimmy Davies · Indianapolis 500 1950. The recorded position is P17; this number alone does not show whether the driver completed the race distance. This is the first recorded race start, or the first entry if the team never started a race.
Sporting landmark · Indianapolis 500
Jimmy Davies · Indianapolis 500 1950. The recorded position is P17; this number alone does not show whether the driver completed the race distance. This marks the first win or podium where one exists, otherwise the highest recorded placing for this constructor.
Latest recorded appearance · Indianapolis 500
Al Herman · Indianapolis 500 1960. The recorded position is P32; this number alone does not show whether the driver completed the race distance. This is the last race start attributed to this constructor in the archive, not necessarily the end of the organisation behind it.
A distinctive way of racing
Sachs and Herman raced for different entrants despite using chassis from the same constructor. The Speedway distinguishes Dean Van Lines and Joe Hunt from the Ewing and Offenhauser names: team organisation, chassis and engine were not a single business.
What remains
The 1960 pole remains Ewing's main championship achievement. It came in the last Indianapolis 500 to count towards the drivers' title: the chassis builder's subsequent American career belongs outside that calendar. Its championship record thus links the two ends of the Indianapolis 500's time in the championship.